Rebecca Brown will speak about “Justice: The Innocence Project” at Bnai Keshet’s Kaplan Minyan on Saturday morning, December 23. The Kaplan Minyan, which meets in the Red Gables historic house across the parking lot from the synagogue’s main building, begins at 10:30 a.m. with selected songs and readings.

Brown, originally from Montclair, is director of Policy for the Innocence Project, which she joined in 2005. She directs its federal and state policy agenda, which seeks to prevent and reveal wrongful convictions and assure compensation for the wrongfully convicted upon release from prison. Brown and her team have successfully lobbied the passage of more than 100 laws at the state level. She has also served as a Policy Analyst for the Mayor’s Office in New York City and a Senior Planner at the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES), where she

Rebecca Brown will speak about “Justice: The Innocence Project” at Bnai Keshet’s Kaplan Minyan on Saturday morning, December 23. The Kaplan Minyan, which meets in the Red Gables historic house across the parking lot from the synagogue’s main building, begins at 10:30 a.m. with selected songs and readings.

Brown, originally from Montclair, is director of Policy for the Innocence Project, which she joined in 2005. She directs its federal and state policy agenda, which seeks to prevent and reveal wrongful convictions and assure compensation for the wrongfully convicted upon release from prison. Brown and her team have successfully lobbied the passage of more than 100 laws at the state level. She has also served as a Policy Analyst for the Mayor’s Office in New York City and a Senior Planner at the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES), where she

Convicted Minneapolis serial killer Billy Glaze is dead. So should the courts even consider claims that he might be innocent?

State Supreme Court justices heard arguments Monday morning about whether attorneys working for the Minnesota Innocence Project have standing to continue a petition for review of Glaze’s case.

Glaze, convicted in decades-old murders of three women, had been incarcerated for 28 years when he fell ill with lung cancer and died in December 2015, amid his attorneys’ efforts to exonerate him with new DNA evidence.

A district court judge agreed with Hennepin County prosecutors last year that Glaze’s appeal died with him. Glaze hadn’t yet proven his innocence with the evidence introduced, so there was no “live controversy” to be resolved, the judge found.

Attorneys for Glaze, however, argued on appeal that the public has an interest in learning whether the justice system worked fairly. Glaze’s name still deserves

Convicted Minneapolis serial killer Billy Glaze is dead. So should the courts even consider claims that he might be innocent?

State Supreme Court justices heard arguments Monday about whether attorneys working for the Minnesota Innocence Project have standing to continue a petition for review of Glaze’s case.

Glaze, convicted in decades-old murders of three women, had been incarcerated for 28 years when he fell ill with lung cancer and died in December 2015, amid his attorneys’ efforts to exonerate him with new DNA evidence.

A District Court judge agreed with Hennepin County prosecutors last year that Glaze’s appeal died with him. Glaze hadn’t yet proved his innocence with the evidence introduced, so there was no “live controversy” to be resolved, the judge found.

Attorneys for Glaze, however, argued on appeal that the public has an interest in learning whether the justice system worked fairly. Glaze’s name still deserves to

Michael Barrett, director of the Missouri public defender’s office, received an odd summons late last month. A Missouri judge in a county he had never stepped foot in ordered him to be in his court on Monday to represent four defendants.

Barrett said that as the director, he is rarely assigned to cases because he runs a $40 million office with 600 employees, but he said he wasn’t surprised that it happened. He said he believes the order — which also directed the court clerk to notify the office of chief disciplinary counsel — is a form of reprisal for his having loudly protested the case load and funding of Missouri’s public defender’s office.

“If I were to speculate, what the judge wanted to do is go ego to ego and tell me who’s boss,” Barrett said. “But I called his bluff and am taking the cases.”

The Ohio Innocence Project (OIP) at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, Cincinnati Opera, and the Young Professionals Choral Collective (YPCC) announce the creation of a contemporary opera, Blind Injustice.

The opera is based on Cincinnati Law Professor Mark Godsey’s book by same name and interviews with six OIP exonerees. Blind Injustice will bring to life the grace, perseverance and forgiveness of these incredible men and women. Premiering during the 2019 opera season, this is the first collaboration of its kind. The opera will be composed by William Menefield to a libretto by David Cote. CCM Professor Robin Guarino will act as stage director and dramaturg.

“The stories of these six exonerees are powerful tales of perseverance and forgiveness after going through an ordeal most of us can’t even imagine,” says Mark Godsey, OIP Director. “Although the stories are